Why Employee Time Off Tracking is Important

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It’s easy to track time off for your employees who are paid by the hour. Simply put, they get paid for the hours they work and not for the hours they don’t. Though there may be some rules you’ve put in place for how much unpaid time off they can take, it’s usually a relatively simple system.

The situation gets a bit more complicated when it comes to paid time off for your salaried employees. When you hired them and they agreed to their salary, a certain number of paid days off were probably built into the contract. However, if you do not have a tracking system put in place, you may not know how many of those paid days they’ve taken. That’s where employee time off tracking comes in handy.

Benefits of Employee Time Off Tracking

There are numerous benefits to tracking your salaried employees time off. Here are a few of them.

More Accountability

Your salaried employees might be tempted to abuse the system if they know their activities are not being tracked. When they know that HR is paying attention to how much time off they take and if it falls in line with their contract, they will be more likely to play by the rules.

Enhances Flexibility

When you have an accurate and efficient way to track time off, you can provide more flexibility to your salaried employees. Some business owners tend to micromanage their salaried employees’ schedules to keep tabs on them. When you have an accurate tracking method, you can feel more comfortable allowing employees to work from home or remotely knowing that they are accountable for their time.

Creates a Fair Workplace

If one of your salaried employees routinely takes more than his share of time off and others never seem to miss a day, employee morale can suffer. Creating a fair playing field for all of your team members is an essential part of an engaged and trusting work environment.

It Helps with Scheduling

Tracking time off is important for your HR team because it assists them with scheduling. Though employees may have time off still available, you may need to deny their request if another person in their department is already planning to be out. Approval and denial of time off requests is much easier when your HR team is aware of who has time left and who needs to use more.

Prevents Burnout

There will always be those employees who prefer to work not only their 40 hours a week but also nights and weekends to get ahead. These are the employees who routinely give up their paid time off. However, those employees who never take personal time are prone to burnout. If you track time off, you can identify the employees who are at risk and require them to take some time for themselves.

How to Implement Employee Time Off Tracking

Tracking time off should not be a hassle for your employees. It also should not make them feel micromanaged or that you’re judging them for how much time they take. Here are some tips for helping you successfully implement a system to track their time off.

Use a Biometric Time Keeping System

Make it easy for your team members to track time worked and time off with a biometric timekeeping system. Employees can easily track time from their personal smart devices no matter where they are. These systems also have added benefits including remote schedule management, streamlined vacation requests, and enhanced communication with other team members.

Require it of All Employees

When you track the time off for certain team members, you must implement the system company-wide. This makes for a fair workplace where no one is resentful of others. Even if you put in a system in place because a certain department is of concern, you should use the system in all departments for consistency.

Be Transparent

Communicating time off policies and why you are tracking their time off is crucial. If time off guidelines were not a part of the employee onboarding process, build them in now. Have a company-wide meeting detailing the time off policy and how you will now be tracking the time. You should also make sure employees know they can ask questions about the system. When you are transparent about why you are tracking time and what is expected of employees, you increase morale and lessen the chance for confusion.

Keeping track of time off for your salaried employees is an important part of HR management. It helps you prevent burnout, keeps employees accountable, and allows you to make smarter scheduling decisions. Consider using a biometric timekeeping method to make hour tracking quick and easy for all of your team members.